Tiz The Season To Be Busy; So Dinner Must Be Easy

I don't know about you, but at my house it always seems that Christmas falls on the woman in the family. Perhaps I'm wrong. But around here it was me who made the cookies and cakes, shopped for all the gifts, wrapped every package, planned Christmas dinner, shopped for all the food, then cooked all the food, decorated the tree (all but the lights, hubby put those on) and then got out a step stool to get all the good dishes down from the top cupboard where they resided most of the year.

I was the one who hollered for help to put all the leaves in the dining table, then by myself, I set the table with the good dishes I'd drug out and washed and the good silverware I'd dug out and polished and the crystal glasses I'd taken down from a top shelf and scrubbed till they sparkled. Hubby's job consisted of putting up outdoor lights and heading out on December 24th to find me a present. Oh, and putting the star on top the tree, simply because he could reach it and I couldn't.

Now I don't know how you do things, but Christmas at my house was exhausting. Even now that I'm alone, what with kids married and hubby graduated to heaven, this time of year is still busy. And while my daughter has taken over my duties and is having dinner at her house, there is still a lot for an old lady to accomplish. Gifts still need to be conjured up, purchased, and wrapped and, in some instances, mailed off to other places. Considering that I'm not a young chick any longer, the things I have to do are enough for me.

Busy as I was, I cheated on my cooking this week and will likely be cheating till after the first of the year. I can't seem to find time to create another vegan recipe and accomplish everything else I have to do. Having a few vegan cookbooks on my shelves comes in handy. Tonight I began with an offering from Everyday Happy Herbivore by Lindsay Nixon.  I love black-eyed peas, and once I saw the recipe, I looked no further. I made a couple of changes in the original recipe and next time, I'll make a few more. But just as it is, it has lots of flavor, fills the tummy, and is quick to make. I labeled it just right for those times of the year when dinner has to be fast or none at all.

CARIBBEAN PEAS AND RICE

2 1/2 cups vegetable broth

1 bunch green onions

2 celery stalks, minced

1 Tbs. minced fresh ginger

4 fresh thyme twigs (1/4 tsp. dried)

1 1/2 tsp. green Tabasco sauce

2 tsp. jerk seasoning

1 cup brown rice (I used white rice as it's faster cooking.)

2 Tbs. ketchup

1/2 tsp. turmeric

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

1 bunch kale, chopped small

1 15 oz. can black-eyed peas, drained and rinsed

In a large saucepan, pour a layer of vegetable broth and saute the onions, celery, garlic, ginger, thyme, hot sauce, and 1 tsp. of the jerk seasoning. Cook over high heat until the celery is soft. About 3 minutes. 

Add the remaining jerk seasoning and stir to coat. Stir in the black-eyed peas. Cover and move the pot to a back burner to simmer and let the spices meld. Do not let the pan go dry. Add more broth or water as needed to retain moisture but not to drown. In all, you'll likely use about 1/2 cup of the broth.

In a small saucepan put:

2 cups of vegetable broth, the ketchup, and turmeric. Stir to combine.

Add the rice. Bring to a boil and cover. Turn heat down to very low and ignore it for 20 minutes. (If you use brown rice, cook for 45 min.)

About 10 minutes before serving, add the kale to the black-eyed pea mixture. Cover and cook till the kale is wilted.

To serve, place big serving of rice on a plate and top with the black-eyed pea/kale mixture. Sprinkle with some green onion tops if desired.

I used Swiss chard instead of kale because the chard looked fresher. Any green would work. Your preference.

The fresh ginger was too strong for my palette. Next time I'll cut it by half.

Jerk seasoning is available in the grocery store's spice aisle. Buy it and make your life easy. Otherwise you'll be mixing this and that and twelve other spices together to get what someone has already bottled up.

Dinner was on the table in about 30 minutes. Can't beat that for a busy day.

This Christmas season, share your table with someone less fortunate than you. I don't remember a holiday as a child growing up when there were not strangers at our table. Sometimes it was a teacher who was alone or a couple from our church who had no one and once we moved to CA, there were always two or three marines who were far from home who ate with us and thanked my parents over and over for allowing them to be part of a family on Christmas Day.

Autumn in the Ozarks

Since moving to Northwest Arkansas almost two years ago I have had to change my food buying habits dramatically. We live twenty three miles from the nearest grocery store that carries any sort of decent selection. Almost thirty miles from one that carries good produce on a consistent basis. There is a fine coop in town too. But as much as I love their mission and their food, nowadays I have to think twice about shopping there though due to financial considerations. I do want to buy their organically grown bell peppers but right now just can't justify spending four dollars for a bell pepper.And if you are living out in the woods like I am, you just don't hop into your car and drive to the grocery store everyday.

Summertime is a completely different story though. Locally grown fresh produce is plentiful, near and inexpensive. Eating vegetarian and/or vegan is cheaper than eating meat and especially so in the summer. But now with autumn in full swing and winter approaching, I have to alter my menus and plan accordingly. I am lucky to know a local couple who grow greens all winter long in a hoop house. The taste of spinach that  was harvested the same day is really quite different than that of spinach cut a few weeks ago and trucked a few thousand miles in refrigerated semis.If you are lucky enough to live near a source of locally grown produce, it's just the best option.

Here in the mountains there is a small Seventh Day Adventist church that has a food buying club that I take advantage of. I don't know anything about Seventh Day Adventists or what they believe but I think they are vegetarians if not vegans. At least the local pastor and his wife are. They are a healthy looking lot! Each month we order from a natural foods catalog and it is delivered to the church a week later. Some items are in large quantities but many are not. This is important to me as I am living in fewer than six hundred square feet of house. Storage  space is at a premium.The church offers this service to anyone wanting to purchase and there is no markup on the food items. I wouldn't call it wholesale but it is cheaper than retail, the food is of extremely high quality and I don't have to drive to town to get it. And I get to see some wonderful neighbors and have a nice chat when we get the call to come and pickup our boxes.

Sure, I have learned some lessons and made some mistakes when buying through the church. Twenty pounds of rice is much more than I am going to use quickly and I have no place to store that much. This week I bought five pounds of sesame seeds. It cost eight dollars for five pounds. Such a deal! But really, do you know what five pounds of sesame seeds looks like? Quite a lot. Probably more than I will use when making Christmas cookies but I know the birds will love them come winter. It's nice to have this option for buying food though when living so far out in the country. And we still have winter squashes, potatoes, onions and other root vegetables for sale at the farmer's markets for a few more weeks. I can stock up on those items to keep in the pantry for a month or more. I have a great source for locally grown turnips that taste like spring radishes when just plucked from the ground but no one seems to share my love for them. Where I come from we eat the turnip roots and throw the greens to the pigs but here in the South, it is just the opposite. When you roast them in the oven with their skins on they are as sweet as candy. Yum!

One of my great discoveries when buying through the club has been La Chicky seasoning. It is a powdered broth mix that does give a chicken taste but it contains no salt. Have you ever bought a bouillon or broth cube or powder at the supermarket that wasn't almost all salt and MSG? No. La Chicky makes a great stock. My only complaint is that it does not come with directions or recipes. You have to figure out through trial and error just how much to use. To my taste, about two tablespoons to a cup of water is just right. And if you are going to make a soup (like I am tonight), you will probably need to add salt. But you get to salt it to your taste.

Tonight, split pea soup. Adapted from a recipe from Jacques Pepin.  A great soup for a cold autumn night. No chicken broth, no cheese, no ham.  But oh, so good!

Split Pea Soup with Croutons

1/4 cup olive oil
2    cups chopped onions
1    tablespoon or more chopped garlic
2    cups or more of diced, peeled russet potatoes
2    diced carrots
1    pound green split peas
7    cups stock made with La Chicky seasoning
2    teaspoons fresh chopped thyme or dried herbs de Provence
      salt to taste
      a dash of hot sauce such as Sriracha or Tabasco

Saute the onion and garlic in the olive oil  for a few minutes over moderate heat to soften but not brown. Add the rest of the ingredients. Bring to a boil and then lower the heat to simmer. Cover and simmer for one hour. If the soup is too thick, add water or more stock to thin.Taste and adjust seasoning. Garnish with croutons and serve.

Easy, inexpensive and tasty. And like many bean based soups and stews, even better the next day!

Laissez le Bontemps Roulez!

Mardi Gras is just a week away. Time to party hearty! A time of excess and revelry before having to behave for the next forty days!
A google search turns up a surprising number of vegan options in the Big Easy. Whoodathunk? But going vegan is super easy with this meatless dish. Adapted from Cajun Cooking by Marjie Lambert, it is one of my favorite cajun dishes, inexpensive to make, filling, nutritious and easy! The only substitution necessary to make it vegan is to use vegan sour cream instead of the real stuff. No sacrifice at all and oh so good. Leftovers if there are any, are even better the next day!

Meatless Red Beans and Rice
1 1lb dry red kidney beans
3 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion , chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 ribs celery, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 tbsp salt
1/4 tsp cayenne
1/4 tsp white pepper
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 tsp dried thyme
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dry mustard
1 bay leaf
6 oz can tomato paste
1/2 cup dry red wine
few drops of Tabasco sauce
1 rib celery, chopped
1/2 cup chopped green pepper
6 green onions, chopped
cooked rice to serve
vegan sour cream

Soak the beans in at least five quarts of water a minimum of four hours or overnight. Drain, rinse and return to the pot with 6 cups of fresh water. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer, skimming the foam, while you prepare the vegetables.
While the beans are simmering, heat the oil in a skillet and saute the onion, garlic, celery, carrot and green pepper until wilted. Add the spices and saute a minute or so more until they give off their aromas. Add the vegetables to the beans along with the tomato paste and wine and continue simmering, stirring occasionally.
After about 30 minutes, taste the broth, add Tabasco to taste, and adjust the other seasonings. Cook until tender, about 1 1//2 hours.
Just before serving, stir the shopped celery, green pepper and green onions into the bean mixture. Serve over cooked rice with a dollop of the vegan sour cream.
The cornbread in the photo was made with Egg Replacer. I may be doing something wrong but have not had good luck with it. You might have better results.
Have fun at Mardi Gras! C'est Levee.